In the calm of an Angus glen, the sound of the bagpipes drifts through the late summer air.
Young New Zealander Rupert Nielsen’s musical talent is enough to stir the heart of any walker or cyclist passing through Prosen’s glorious tranquillity.
But his piobaireachd notes strike a much deeper resonance with the family of the Kiwi teenager.
For he is playing on the very doorstep of the whitewashed cottage from which his ancestors left Angus in search of a new life around a century ago.
Special family trip
The return to Buckhood Cottage capped a voyage of discovery for 18-year-old Rupert and his parents, Phillip and Kate.
On the family’s first visit to Scotland, Rupert’s proud parents had the thrill of watching their younger son play in his first World Pipe Band Championships on Glasgow Green.
The Worlds saw celebration in the ranks of Rupert’s Manawatu Scottish Pipe Band as they finished ninth in the top-flight Grade One category.
But the highlight of the family trip was completing the “full circle” by staying in the cottage which was home to the young musician’s great-great-grandfather – himself an accomplished piper.
Buckhood, a few miles from Dykehead north of Kirriemuir, is now a holiday let.
Phil, 54, said it was a remarkable privilege for the family to complete the special homecoming to the home his grandfather grew up in.
“We have always known about this place,” he said.
“I always thought I’d come back one day to see it and the town of Kirrie.”
‘Father of the nine’
The cottage was the home of shepherd Charles McKenzie Ferguson and his wife, Jane.
In the Ferguson family tree, Charles is remembered as the ‘father of the nine’ on account of the large family the couple raised there.
Phil added: “It was two of his sons – Alexander and Mont – who left Glen Prosen around the late 1920s.”
They initially travelled to Australia before finding their way to New Zealand.
Alexander is the direct family link to the Nielsen family, with piping also running through the generations.
Phil added: “I still have my grandfather’s pipes and play them. Our older son, Alexander, is 20 and also a piper.”
And in the family album is a prized photograph of Charles McKenzie Ferguson in full Highland regalia with his pipes at Buckhood.
Ferguson family members still living in area joined their Antipodean relatives for an reunion in the glen, where Rupert’s playing struck an emotional note.
“It’s the first time we’ve been to Scotland and Glen Prosen is a beautiful, calm place,” said Phil.
“It’s been quite a replenishment just to be here.
“One evening I left the cottage to drive down to Kirriemuir.
“Rupert was playing in the garden when I left and down the road I stopped the car.
“I could hear the sound of the pipes coming down the glen.
“For him to be playing where his great-great-grandfather undoubtedly stood and played was quite a nice feeling.”
